Fort Worth schools Superintendent Kent Scribner to resign in August 2022
The Fort Worth school board Tuesday voted unanimously to accept Superintendent Kent Scribner’s resignation from his post about two years ahead of schedule.
Scribner announced his plans to retire in January, telling the board he planned to stay through the end of his contract in 2024. According to the joint agreement voted on Tuesday, he will step down as superintendent on Aug. 31, 2022. Scribner will continue to serve in an advisory capacity through February 2023.
The board did not immediately release details on the agreement, including what sort of pay or benefits to which he will be entitled when he leaves the district.
Scribner said in his resignation letter that his time as superintendent “has been the high point of my career, both personally and professionally.” He said he is most proud of his work to promote racial equity in the district.
Since Scribner’s hiring in 2015 to replace Walter Dansby, he has led the district through two major bonds totaling almost $2 billion, new school openings and the COVID-19 pandemic. The recent $1.2 billion bond passed by only 57 votes.
Critics of Scribner said the slim margin of approval shows that many residents are upset with the school district’s leadership.
Before the board’s vote Tuesday, speakers at the meeting again called for him to resign, addressing transgender issues, academic performance and critical race theory.
He has worked to increase equity efforts, but under his leadership the district has seen a decrease in academic performance, turbulent and politically charged board meetings and declining enrollment even before the pandemic.
More than 40 residents have consistently attended district board meetings to call for Scribner’s removal, with organizers citing the spring 2021 STAAR results as a sign of his failure and criticizing his priorities.
More than 60% of students in grade levels 3 through 8 failed their STAAR math exam, and more than 45% failed their STAAR reading exam, according to district staff reports during a July 27 board meeting.
The district in 2018-19 received a C accountability rating from the Texas Education Agency. It missed a B rating by one-tenth of 1%, and the state waived 2019-2020 accountability ratings because of the pandemic.
Former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said she “wouldn’t be surprised if Kent isn’t here in a few months” and that she no longer had confidence in him.
Other residents have supported Scribner during meetings, citing the district’s approach to the pandemic and attempts to increase equity.
The district’s contentious school board meetings have largely focused on debate around critical race theory (CRT) since the board returned to in-person gatherings in May, filled with shouting matches, hours-long public comments and security escorts.
At a March 24 panel discussion hosted by the Texas Tribune, Scribner described the critical race theory debate as a “manufactured crisis” and said the district has never taught CRT.
The board Tuesday night also started the process of hiring a search firm to assist in finding the district’s next superintendent.
Trustees interviewed four consulting firms vying for a contract to search for the next leader of Fort Worth schools, asking the same questions of each firm, but did not make any decisions that evening.
The board questioned each firm on things like metrics used to determine the success of superintendents it has helped place at other districts.
The board also questioned the firms’ representatives about challenges in finding a new superintendent, how they will attract candidates, how each firm utilizes diversity and inclusion and how it gets input from different groups on what they want in the process.
This story was originally published March 29, 2022 at 7:15 PM.